Zorua Line/B2W2
Zorua may only be obtained from Rood in Driftveil City, after defeating him in battle. Zorua's OT will always be N and it will always have a Hasty nature. An unsurprisingly rare Pokémon to find and use, which makes its first apparition in none other than the Unova sequels. Zoroark is one of a kind, in more than one way; in terms of usefulness and role, it is not too far off from a Liepard upgrade, as it learns good moves much earlier and has better overall stats. Granted, being a Liepard's upgrade is not saying much. Or perhaps it is. In fact, Zoroark's frailty is its biggest issue, as well as a substantial lack of special moves - the ones that compliment its better offensive stat - until later during the game. While a decent lead thanks to U-turn, Zoroark will generally just want to deal chip damage and run away, rather than take on an enemy to actually fend it off. Its stats are not as good in practice as they seem on paper, and its physical Defense really makes it struggle with the detrimental nature. All in all, Zoroark is definitely not terrible, but it may not be as good as it looks from the outside. Important Matchups - Challenge Mode = * Gym #5 - Clay (Driftveil City, Ground-type): Zoroark is not of much use in this fight: apart from possibly settling the score with Sandslash, the only Pokémon that does not resist its main STAB and does not have both Sturdy and Explosion like Onix does, it finds itself at a disadvantage against Clay's team and should rather step aside than fight and take risks. * Hugh (Pokémon World Tournament): Ironically, Hugh's most dangerous starter for Zoroark is Dewott, since it packs Revenge and can take a Night Slash. Pignite does not have Fighting moves, and Servine is non-threatening. Tranquill is not terrible, but Zoroark is better off U-turning against the elemental monkeys, as their offensive stats are nothing to laugh at. * Cheren (Pokémon World Tournament, Normal-type): Night Slash everything that is not Cinccino and watch it go down. U-turn against Cinccino, because Zoroark does not like taking a potentially Technician-boosted Wake-Up Slap. * Colress (Pokémon World Tournament): This matchup is bad for Zoroark. U-turn is the best option against Magneton and Klink, and neither of them will take much damage from it, so avoiding the battle altogether is an option. Zoroark is, however, an excellent Elgyem terminator. * Gym #6 - Skyla (Mistralton City, Flying-type): Zoroark's Night Slash is great against Swoobat and Sigilyph, and the Hasty nature guarantees that Zoroark will also outspeed, securing the kill. However, Skarmory resists everything Zoroark can learn at this point, and Swanna has the upper hand with Air Slash: two of Zoroark's Night Slashes will not kill it, unless at least one of them scores a critical hit, while a critical hit from Swanna's Air Slash may end Zoroark. This risk must be taken only if strictly necessary. * Hugh (Undella Town): Night Slash is more powerful than Unfezant's Air Slash, so Zoroark should be able to win the matchup. The elemental monkey is hit-or-miss; their Defense is not great, but they will likely still survive a non-critical Night Slash and retaliate. Zoroark will survive a hit as well, but critical hits will be a problem. Alternatively, U-turn can be used against Simisage or Serperior. All of the starters pose a major threat to Zoroark: Serperior has Coil and may raid the whole team if Zoroark lets it set up, Emboar packs Heat Crash, and Samurott sports Revenge. * Zinzolin (Lacunosa Town, tag battle with Hugh): Night Slash can make short work of Cryogonal thanks to its really poor Defense, but this is likely not a risk worth taking. Night Slash cannot OHKO, and even if Golbat chooses to not target Zoroark with Acrobatics, it may use Mean Look to trap it. Zoroark is better off U-turning its way out of the battlefield here, or leaving the show to bulkier Pokémon. * Gym #7 - Drayden (Opelucid City, Dragon-type): The only member of Drayden's team that Zoroark has an advantage against is Flygon, whose Earth Power deals less damage than Zoroark's Dark Pulse. The others are at best 3HKOed by the move, and can cause a lot more pain than Zoroark can hope to inflict. * Zinzolin (Opelucid City): Night Slash the Cryogonal into oblivion, even both of them if the first one uses Confuse Ray or Slash. Switch out when Weavile comes, or U-turn if Zoroark is certain to take an Ice Shard from its health level (it will usually deal 33% or more in damage). * Shadow (Opelucid City): Absol will take considerable damage from U-turn, but the Pawniard will not. Avoid them unless the battle style is Shift, and U-turn can be used repeatedly. * Gym #8 - Marlon (Humilau City, Water-type): Carracosta can set up with Shell Smash and that is reason enough to steer clear from it. Wailord is at odds with Zoroark; Scald and Dark Pulse do roughly the same amount of damage without Rain Dance, and are just an inch away from a possible 2HKO. Zoroark will manage if healed often, but not if the weather move is used and not without trouble in either case. Mantine is doable, and Night Slash is better due to its high Special Defense. Jellicent is the only easy one, thanks to its Dark weakness. * Zinzolin (Plasma Frigate, tag battle with Hugh): Zoroark should U-turn out of the way, preferably against Liepard, as there are actual chances of knocking it out (depending on Zoroark's level and stats). Cryogonal will take roughly half, so weakening it is an option if there is someone on the team that can pick up the fight from there. Fighting is too dangerous against anything but Liepard and Watchog; Zinzolin's Pokémon have strong moves and Weavile can outspeed Zoroark, even if it opts for Slash over Ice Shard. * Zinzolin (Plasma Frigate): Second verse, same as the first; one of the Cryogonal will go down to two Night Slashes, but may OHKO with a critical Ice Beam in return. Leave Weavile alone, Zoroark cannot win. * Colress (Plasma Frigate): A bunch of Steel-types and no Fire coverage. Apart from Beheeyem, this matchup makes Zoroark very sad. Dig kind of works, but Zoroark will at best KO Metang with it; Magneton and Magnezone mean trouble with their sky-high Special Attack, and Klinklang has Shift Gear. Stay away. * Shadow battle #1 (Plasma Frigate): More Dark resistances. Joy. Zoroark can overthrow a Pawniard or two with Dig, and also U-turn to chip away Absol's half or so health before a teammate seals the deal. * Shadow battle #2 (Plasma Frigate): More Digging against the Pawniard, and then a clean Banette sweep with either Night Slash or Dark Pulse. * Shadow battle #3 (Plasma Frigate): Use Dig again for the Pawniard, then switch out. Accelgor is fast and has STAB Bug Buzz. * Black/White Kyurem (Giant Chasm): No. Any one critical hit from anything but White Kyurem's Slash will kill Zoroark, which can at best 3HKO in return. * Ghetsis (Giant Chasm): Zoroark can net the KO against Cofagrigus and potentially Eelektross with its Dark STAB of choice, but that is it. His other Pokémon all have better bulk and, except for Seismitoad, resist Zoroark's best moves. U-turn is helpful to deal chip damage against Hydreigon, but use it only if Zoroark has a good switch-in. * Hugh (Victory Road): Zoroark is at a disadvantage against Unfezant, which can U-turn in its face. It is possible to risk it and use Night Slash or Dark Pulse anyway, depending on what Zoroark is disguised as; U-turn will not kill unless it crits. Bouffalant has Megahorn, do not fight it. The elemental monkeys all have Brick Break; Zoroark can 2HKO with Dark Pulse, but a critical Brick Break will kill it from full health. Emboar and Samurott also have super effective coverage, so avoid them. If possible, U-turn against Serperior, but do no more: its Coil will easily put the team in danger if it manages to set up. * Elite Four Shauntal (Pokémon League, Ghost-type): Zoroark has a near-certain OHKO on everything in Shauntal's team with Dark Pulse, if holding the Expert Belt or BlackGlasses. A little helping of EVs or Calciums will change that to a guaranteed victory. In general terms, Zoroark's Special Attack should be 172 or higher to be certain of the OHKO. * Elite Four Marshal (Pokémon League, Fighting-type): Zoroark's matchup against Marshal is terrible all across the board, and it should never think of entering the battlefield. The only possible exception is Lucario, only for Shift players or as a revenge kill; Zoroark can kill it with Flamethrower if holding the Charcoal or the Expert Belt. * Elite Four Grimsley (Pokémon League, Dark-type): As Zoroark's best moves are all resisted, there is not much it can do here. U-turn does help with dealing initial damage to Grimsley's Pokémon, however, also thanks to the weakness that all but Scrafty and Bisharp have; this also keeps Zoroark safe from hits that could otherwise kill it. * Elite Four Caitlin (Pokémon League, Psychic-type): Profiting of Musharna's only viable move being Charge Beam, Zoroark can use the first turn to Nasty Plot its way to victory with Dark Pulse. Two uses of this move will be needed to also be certain of the OHKO against Metagross; keep Zoroark in high health, as Metagross also has Bullet Punch. Make sure to wake Zoroark up if Musharna puts it to sleep, before proceeding with the fight; spending a turn healing after Musharna is gone is much more problematic, as Caitlin's other Pokémon pack much stronger moves. * Champion Iris (Pokémon League, Dragon-type): Zoroark can deal considerable damage to Hydreigon with U-turn, and easily 2HKO Archeops with either Dark Pulse or Foul Play, both of which bring it down to Defeatist range, where it cannot damage Zoroark much. Foul Play can also 2HKO Druddigon, but Druddigon's Sheer Force and Life Orb combination will OHKO Zoroark with Focus Blast. Avoid Aggron and Lapras; they both deal more damage to Zoroark than the fight is worth, and cannot be 2HKOed. Haxorus can OHKO Zoroark with Outrage even without a single Dragon Dance and is also holding a Focus Sash, avoid it. * Post-Game: With Zoroark's general underperformance in the game, it is better to not push its usage in battle if the nuzlocke progresses further, though Zoroark can help once again in the League rematches. }} Moves Zorua starts off with Scratch, Leer, Pursuit and Fake Tears. It will learn the useless Fury Swipes at level 13, and then the much better Faint Attack at level 17. At level 21 comes Scary Face, which has little to no use, especially since Zoroark is already fast enough; level 25 sports Taunt, which is a horrible idea since Zoroark loves it when the enemy uses non-damaging moves. Upon evolving, at level 30, Zoroark gets the great Night Slash, while at level 34 comes Torment which, while certainly less useful than any other direct damaging alternative, may weasel Zoroark out of a rough patch against some opponents. Agility, at level 39, is superfluous: what Zoroark cannot outspeed, Zoroark should not fight. Likewise, ignore Embargo at level 44. Punishment comes at level 49 and is in no way better than Night Slash. Nasty Plot, at level 54, is amazing, but will only be safe to use against a few enemies that do not hit Zoroark hard, and most things will, given its frail defenses. Imprison, at level 59, does no favours to the line. Lastly, there is Night Daze at level 64, Zoroark's signature move, if it is trained that far. Zoroark can also learn U-turn via Move Reminder. While Zoroark's level up moveset may be nothing to write home about, its TM compatibility is amazing... in theory. On the special side it gets access to Flamethrower, Focus Blast and Grass Knot, but the latter two are only accessible in the postgame, as is Calm Mind. It can also make use of a handful of physical options: U-turn is great for utility, and will leave a dent in a good number of enemies while protecting Zoroark, while Dig helps against Electric-types in general. Low Sweep is not bad in the mid-game, but its power will eventually wear out. Swords Dance is an option if it is possible to collect and spend Battle Points. In the short term, Aerial Ace may help somewhat. Zoroark will mostly want Dark Pulse from the tutors, as it is the only special STAB move it gets access to before Night Daze. The other options are not really remarkable. Recommended moveset: Dark Pulse, Flamethrower, U-turn, Nasty Plot Recommended Teammates * Flying-types: Zoroark's two weaknesses are covered by Flying-types perfectly. Ideally, the resident Flying-type of the team should have a secondary typing that retains the Fighting and Bug resistances; not only does this help Zoroark stay covered in switch-outs, it also lessens the probability of enemies using moves of those types against Zoroark itself, if it is disguised as its Flying-type teammate. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Crobat, Sigilyph, Vespiquen, Skarmory, Drifblim, Pelipper, Gliscor, Mantine, Altaria * Physical tanks: Zoroark's physical Defense is already bad, and further hindered by the detrimental nature. Physically bulky Pokémon are a must on any team Zoroark is on, and they should not share any weaknesses with it. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Azumarill, Weezing, Conkeldurr, Mandibuzz, Cofagrigus, Escavalier, Skarmory, Gliscor, Bronzong * Special tanks: Although slightly better than its physical Defense, Zoroark's Special Defense also leaves it vulnerable to a great many hits. Special tanks are recommended as an accompaniment to Zoroark, in order to facilitate switch-outs, especially when Zoroark is using U-turn. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Ampharos, Azumarill, Vaporeon, Flareon, Mandibuzz, Sandslash, Crustle, Gothitelle, Reuniclus, Escavalier, Jellicent, Mantine, Bronzong Other Zorua's stats Zoroark's stats * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Before doing anything significant. Zoroark is already frail as is; Zorua is much too frail to risk its life against strong enemies. * How good is the Zorua line in a Nuzlocke? It is not as good as it seems. Its main redeeming factor lies in the endgame, when it can actually do some work against the Elite Four. Still, Zoroark will sit out more matches than it will participate in. * Weaknesses: Fighting, Bug * Resistances: Ghost, Dark * Immunities: Psychic * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ground, Steel, Fire, Rock, Water, Grass, Electric, Ice, Dragon Category:Black 2/White 2